Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze Golden Blend | Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen

Notes / Commercial Description:
The Golden Blend is made with 4 year old Lambic that accounts for 25 % of it’s contents, the rest of the blend is made up by a "secret" combination of 1, 2 and 3 year old Lambic.

The exact mixture is only known by the master-blender Armand himself.

The name "Golden Blend" is not far away from the truth, in fact, the 4 years of maturation in oak-wooden barrels is making this particular Lambic very expensive.

Due to the "evaporation" through the barrels, only a small percentage of the lambic is left over after 4 years of maturing.

Reviews by Neffbeer:

More User Reviews:

It's often the delimma of a sour ale fan to achieve the exclusive taste of unblended lambic, but with gueuze like zest. Drie Fontienen answers the that question with this blend of four years of blends that culminate in exquisite earthiness and sharp complexities that are simply unparalleled.

The burnt orange hued beer pours with the carbonated creaminess that's expected from a well made gueuse. So if you are expecting a more still lambic stillness then expect a slight champagne livelihood. As the carbonation builds a creamy, cottony head, a swirl of the glass leaves traces of the Belgiany lace that we've come to expect. Solid retention accompanies the beer 'til the end of the glass.

The bold sourness of the beer reveal the unadulterated scents of dried limes, lemons, crab apples, rhubarb, and citrus. But a deeply embedded grouping of aromatics reveal more earthen character: saddle leather, dusty woods, and cork all play into the scent that's both fragrant and pungent.

The decadent tastes start with the sweet and tawny interplay of white wine, cider, and dry wheat. Pile on the sourness of citrus, white wine vinegar, under ripened apples and berries and we have the majority of the taste. But then there's the earthy components of dried hay, sea brine, sandalwood, corkish wood, and chardonnay soaked oak that round out the taste. It's a fairly consistent beer as it traverses from it's initial impressions until its ultra-dry taste in finish.

But here's where the real secret of this beer separates from other world class gueuze: The fine carbonation resonates through a somewhat silky-sour note that's never been expected before. With no carbonic bite (as with champagne), the beer delivers a teeth-churning sensation that couples with the most delightful powdery-sour marriage that could ever be expected in a beer. It's simply magic what this beer does the the trigemental senses to the mouth.

Although the subtleties that this four-year blend gives is very well appreciated, I do think that this is not the beer for the uninitiated. Reserve this refined ale for those who are well versed in well made gueuze and lambics before opening- and be sure to have some steamed mussels and well aged gruyere on hand.

February 17, 2011 bottling date. I found this at a liquor store in Los Angeles.

I'm impressed by how sweet and fruity the cork smells as I pry it out of the bottle. That's always a good sign.

I pour the beer into a teku glass and it produces a fizzy head (and accompanying sound) that quickly dissipates. But what remains is a gorgeous brew with a peach color and an opacity that suggests the beer is thicker than the fizz would suggest. 5

I can't escape the burgeoning fruitiness that this beer smells of, even from a distance I can smell slightly funky cranberry, raspberry and other fresh fruit. It's subtly earthy and faintly reminiscent of cider. I feel there's more than this than I can accurately describe, but it smells incredibly and seems to have no flaws. 5

Cranberries, tart cherry, raspberry. So many tart fruits seem to be in the mix here. These give way to a lemony citric flavor and some earthy funk. I find myself again searching for a flaw in the flavors here, but this beer is impeccable. 5

I love the balance of funk, tartness, and subtle citric acid achieved with this beer. It's incredibly refreshing, light, light-to-moderately carbonated and the semi-dry finish is as pleasant as any beer comes. Flawless. 5

Do I need to tell you this is a 5? It's flawless. Impeccable. Delicious.

375ml caged and corked bottle. Another weird opener for this brewery - after the final twist was applied to the cage's wire, the cork just plum popped off itself, this time deftly into my waiting hand, as opposed to ricocheting off the ceiling.

This beer pours a hazy, medium golden amber hue, with three fingers of very loosely bubbly, fizzy, foamy dirty white head, which leaves a low sudsy wall of cushion lace around the glass as it evenly sinks away.

It smells rather pungently of sour lemon, over-aged white wine, under-ripe green apples, a growing musty funk, a weak bready maltiness, and a soft kiss of astringent, grainy wood. The taste is sharply acidic apple, white grape, and lemon, with an actually perceptible, combined fruity sweetness, some bomb shelter pale grain, with a certainly laid-back funk, what with it being only a tad musty and cheesy. A lingering oaky woodiness seems incapable of letting go.

The carbonation is light, and fairly frothy, the body medium-light in weight, the airy bubbles providing a bit too much distraction for straight-ahead smoothness to take hold, which is strange, given the initial edgy acidic notes. It finishes off-dry, incredibly, the tartness abating for the most part, the fruit on the rise, in a complex interplay with the grain, tame funk, and neutered wood.

Wow, what a show - almost unpalatable acetic acid to start off, and then a slow, easy conversion to a balanced fruity, zingy oak-touched pale ale, Belgian-style, that is. Very drinkable, robust, and enjoyable well beyond expectations. However, since those expectations came from the 'regular' Oude Gueuze , and the price comparison between them is double, at least, that puts me in a quandary as to recommendations - try this, I guess, at least once, for an occasion. Mine appears to be a Monday night.

As expected, highly carbonated with a tight, aggressive head that required cautious and patient pouring, but worth the wait. Tingly on the tongue, with both under and overripe orchard fruit notes - green apple, ripe apricot, a touch of mango. Some reserved funkyness, but far from the barnyard some evoke - tartness rises up toward the end and the finish is amazingly bone dry.

Bottle from overseas. Served in a Drie Fonteinen "3" gueuze tumbler side-by-side with Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze bottled on November 18, 2010. The Golden Blend was bottled on February 17, 2011.

The cork started to pop out right after I started to release the cage. It's not a gusher, but this thing has plenty of carbonation. The pour was difficult, to say the least. Loads of foam leading to a very rocky, dense head that leaves behind a nice bit of lacing. Thin cap throughout.

The nose brings an incredible amount of funk and is reminiscent of the Armand'4 Herfst and Winter. This is what I love. There some minerality and an earthy mushroom-like character, coming close to a light bit of truffle. Some sweat and goatiness comes along after that. Some backing acidity comes through, leading into the flavor.

First impression in the flavor is sweaty horse blanket mixed with some strong earthiness. Straight from the ground here. There's some acidity and must that really longer. A bit of leather and very light oak. This is an absolutely gorgeous beer. The acidity and funk flow right into one another. Simply sublime.

The body is light, bordering on light-medium. Pod carbonation and a mild acidity. Heavy funk and earth at every turn. Spritzer-like carbonation. Everything about the body helps to deliver the maxim amount of funk.

What can I say about this? Armand has simply nailed it once again. Breathtaking. I love it.

After loosening the cage, the cork instantly popped out of the bottle. Fortunately, none of the beer followed. With a slow and steady pour, the gorgeous, crystal clear, orangey-amber liquid became smothered by a billowing, five-finger tall, ecru colored crown that nearly spilled over the top of the glass. The head slowly faded to a thick, crackly plume. Bubbly chunks of lacing coated the glass.

The flavor profile was very similar to the aroma and just as impressive. Amazingly musty and leathery with intense barnyard notes. Super oaky and tannic. Bone dry. Uber bright and lemony in the center. Bitter lemon peel and aged, earthy hop notes were quite apparent in the finish and lingered long after the swallow. By the drink's end, I could feel the enamel being stripped from my teeth. That said, the actual flavor of the beer was somehow not overly acidic.

The mouthfeel was interesting and ideal for the style. It was super light and highly effervescent. Almost Champagne-like. Amazingly frothy and fluffy on the palate.

Up until this point, Drie Fonteinen's Lente was definitely the best geuze I ever sampled. Oude Geuze Golden Blend reminded me a lot of that beer, except that everything about this was even more intense. Twenty nine dollars is a tremendous amount money to pay for a 375 ml bottle but, in this case, it was worth event cent. This was truly one of the greatest beers I have ever come across.

A - Pours was honestly a pain. Huge amounts of foam made it take forever but once it settled it left slightly hazy amber orange liquid. It eventually dissipated down to a sticky white film leaving small webs of lace down the side of the glass.

S - Smells of strong drie fonteinen barnyard funk, light basement must, bit of lemon tartness and some earthen mineral. The funk is pretty strong throughout, just as I prefer it to be.

T - Taste is a little more balanced compared to the nose. Starts off with still strong barnyard funk and light must quickly giving way to hints of oak, lactic sourness, lemon tartness and some light graininess. Finish is pretty dry, lingering long after the finish.

M - Medium body with moderate carbonation. Some robust carbonation helps drum up the funk to match the tartness, making it really easy to consume.

O - I don't know why this stuff is still sitting on the shelves but I always buy it when I see it as it is truly a world class geuze. The price may be a little steep for the size but it is worth it to drink such an awesome geuze.

L - goldn is the word. Deep honey gold with almost no head
S - sharp lemon grass and bright acid. Soft oak
T - touch of funk but astonishing balance of acid and lemon
F - slight sparkle to the carb. Very smooth and almost creamy

Step 1: start twisting open the metal cage.
Step 2: Recoil in shock as the loud BOOM of the cork shooting out of the bottle makes your life flash before your eyes.
Step 3: rush to the sink to contain the foam overflow. Clean up and pour into a wine goblet. Have your Magic hat keg glass on hand as backup.

A - overflowing with head so much I needed two glasses to hold it. Eventually fell to a thin collar. Color is opaquely hazy orange.

S - Smells like sharp citrus and dry white wine swirled around an oak barrel and thrown into a farmhouse. Unmistakably a Geuze.

M - The carbonation is so active that even after its little tantrum upon opening, half of my sips felt like I was swallowing straight up foam. Such characteristics are more forgivable in a style like this, but I'd rather not feel like i'm close to choking half the time.

overall - It's rustic, sour, wild, and definitely not for everyone. Exactly what a Geuze should be, I'd say. The only big disadvantage is the price.

Pours a saturated, bright, golden-amber color, with a small, fizzy head, receding to a thin, bubbly texture at the rim of the glass.

On the nose, the beer produces an incredibly intense funkiness. It features green apple peel, crisp citrus wrapped up in blue cheese, leather, prickling mushroom, jogurt, and most surprisingly a pleasant floral note. All those flavors blend together marvellously, creating a very harmonious, aroma bursting impression.

Has a soft, medium carbonation with a pleasant mouthfeel to it, refreshing due to citrus and mineralic tones, silk on the tongue due to a buttery, leather defined maltiness.

Tastes of a slowly unfolding citrus crispness, featuring a luscious sourness, next to a more and more pungent developing dryness. Dusty old earth produces a great balance, with a moldy toffee sweetness to be found in it. Its carbonation adds a vivid component to the drinking experience, masking the bigger body of this perfectly well. Finishes with an intense, mineral supported, citrus dryness among fermented green apple, sun bathed hay and a wheaty sweetness.

A treat throughout, pushing the already best Geuze even further. Everything I love about their regular Gueuze is detectable in this, while they amped it up a bit. Best example for this being the nose, promising an uncompromising funkiness, countered by its characteristic crispness on the palate, achieving an intriguing synergy, which lasts till the end. Unbelievable depth of flavors, while its balance is just spot on.

Thanks to Ron for bringing this one to the tasting. This one was super carbonated - after twisting the cage off, the cork popped out on its own. Surprisingly enough, no gushing over. It pours a cloudy, dull-golden color with a white head that grows big and settles around a quarter-inch or so. No real lacing to speak of, only a little bit of wet legging.

Golden Blend has a nice pungency on the nostrils; sweet apples, lemons, and white grapes, mild funk and musk, lots of acidity and a heavy sour/tart character that is easily accessible just from smelling the beer. Some dry oak in the finish, along with some more funky and corky notes that come out more as the sourness settles a bit. I'm really digging the way this one smells - plenty of sweet and tart, juicy fruits with a perfect amount of funky yeast.

This one is super crisp and light on the palate. The heavy carbonation seemingly allows the beer to evaporate seconds after hitting your tongue. Super tart fruit up front, namely apples, white grapes, and some lemon zest. Very tart and puckering right out of the gate - even more so than the aroma would have you believe. Once the initial tart spike subsides, it's time for the funk.

Big, heavy yeast flavors join; funk, cork, wet wood. The funk was a little stronger in the aroma than on the palate, but it's still a large contributor. Near the finish, I'm picking up some light cherry tartness as well. There's a slight bitterness near the very end, perfectly dulling the tartness and creating a nice "fade-out". Aftertaste is full of oak and funk mixed with the lasting fruit sweetness.

Wow, what a great tasting gueuze. Great balance of tart, sour, and funk. Easy to drink and so ghost-like on the palate that it's scary. Many thanks again to Ron for sharing this with us.

EDIT: Enjoyed this again a few weeks later thanks to Kevin. Still just as delicious as the first one. This is definitely the type of gueuze I would seek out because at this point in time, it's still not too hard to reel in, but it tastes amazing.

EDIT #2: Have enjoyed this many more times - the flavors and aromas are usually on point and delicious, however some bottles are overly carbonation and sometimes the wispy mouth feel is a bit too sharp and distracts from the flavors. Other than that, a great beer that ever gueuze lover needs.